James Barrett, PhD

One of the questions I get from parents of acting out teens is, “what can I do?”  Well, thanks to Nancy Rappaport, M.D. for giving me the heads up on an idea coined by the folks over at the ASAP Program at Children’s Hospital: the 7 C’s of Parental Leverage.  The 7 C’s are as follows: cash, credit card, checks, car, cellphone, computer curfew.  Parents should remember that you pay for or control all of these commodities, which are considered precious by teens.  Yes, they may pitch a fit if you restrict them, but too bad –that’s your call.  There are going to be instances when as parents you need to enforce consequences and timeouts won’t work anymore.  The 7 C’s, learn them, know them, live them.